♪ howard: the last few days, make that the last few weeks, are remind me of the trump presidency when i'd go to bed and the next morning especially cape that the world -- escape -- discover that the world had change ad. it was a similar by symbiotic relationship. the news business with would be rewarded with clicks and ratings. things took a more serious turn after of january 6th, trump's continuing insistence the last election was stolen and now the criminal investigation of the

former president. most trump supporters don't trust what he calls fake news, but now if we're reporting facts that while we can debate the politics or particulars can't be spun away. it's a fact that trump seized to own one development this week to demand that he be reinstated as president or granted a new election even though both are impossible. and the next day while release leasing this photo, the justice department accused trump of likely concealing and moving classified documents, some of them top secret, in an attempt to obstruct the probe. last night trump called those involved sick people. we will examine whether the president is rooting for trump to be indicted. it's almost true he may never be charged. whether a double standard is applied to president biden. does the nonstop coverage of trump go too far? that's the question. i'm howard kurtz, and and this is "mediabuzz." ♪

♪ howard: when doj said in that court piling that donald trump had held back at least 100 classified documents after claiming all had been returned to the archive and some had been moved from the storage room to his office, there was an explosion of media criticism. >> you see that actually this story is even worse than what we first heard about them consumerring -- concealing documents, moving them from storage spaces. there is no defense. >> how could anyone trust the doj to stop themselves from going fishing through trump's files when they've been proven time and time again to be so biased against him? >> i think it's virtually impossible for merrick garland to look the other way given the way trump has behaved. >> apparently, there's big secrets there and not just in the document room. the agents found three classified documents in donald

trump's desks. what were they doing in the desk? if. howard: this came one day after trump posted 60 times to truth social, some reposts inspired by qanon saying the the fbi's efforts to suppress the hunter biden laptop story as russian disinformation means he should be immediately returned to the white house or granted a do-over election. >> the more worried or panicked donald trump is, the more insane his public pronouncements become. >> it is as if there's some universal deity who can just put him back in the white house. it does not exist under our constitutional system. howard: joining us now to analyze the coverage, emily jashinsky, cultural editor of the federalist, and laura fink, democrat strategist. emily, you've got all these legal experts and former prosecutors going on tv and saying based on the doj are filing trump will be indicted for obstruction, should be indicted, going to jail, lock him up.

>> right. howard: is there a rush to judgment by the media in that we don't the know what other evidence merrick garland may have? >> i think that's the most us from if traiting element of the media coverage -- frustrating because we have learned over the course of the last seven years that, if anything, the media needs to be much more kept call of the justice department and of the fbi in terms of their investigations of donald trump. they're actually implicated in ongoing questions about what happened in their investigations of donald trump going back to 2015. so they're a huge player in that story, and the media feels, swus like you said in your opener, like we're back to the trump presidency. the similar by yacht withic relationship has returned, but that means the media needs to learn the lessons that the exists very much, you immediate to treat the intelligence community, the department of justice's approach towards trump with skepticism. and instead, we are not seeing that at all. howard: laura, in an are lists are saying the average person -- analysts are saying the average person would be indicted on this

level of evidence, assuming it's true, and i don't really dispute that. but in the real world, doesn't joe biden's attorney general have to consider the impact on the country if he can't show any tangible harm to national security? >> well, i think that we're seeing that. we also know that investigations are not disclosed to the public. we're seeing more than we normally would exactly because we're dealing with a former president of the united states. and while i think you see on the right not just -- it's not just skepticism, an outright demonization of the fbi and doj, not dealing with the facts that have been disclosed in this case, not dealing with the laws that may have been violated. and i think that that is the difference in coverage that you see in this instance. and i think it's really important. skepticism is fine, but demonization of institutions without evidence is problematic. howard: well, i think it's absolutely true that ordinarily a trillion investigation would never -- criminal investigation would never get this kind of

disclosure. the follower president had a rally in pennsylvania last night, addressed this question of classified documents. let's take a look. >> they go in and take documents, dump them on the floor, stage a photo shoot and pretend that i had done it, like i had put them all over the floor. these are very dishonest, sick people. howard: emily, many conservatives are not engaging on the details of the search and saying they don't trust fbi rattling off what they see as past abuses starting with russiagate. is that a deflection from details of the case? >> i think it can become a deflection, no doubt about it. when the media, you're seeing some of the same leaks to some of the same reporters from 2016 that were covering george bush

shah -- covering russiagate. i think their limited time is best spent rebutting that, and that's how we get into these cycles where it might seem like deflection, but it's the actually a rebuttal of what's coming out of the the legacy media, because they're doing the same thing without having learned some of those important lessons. can it become deflection? absolutely. i also think a lot of it is rebutting really bad behavior we're seeing again. howard: right. of course, if both sides are talking about trump, then donald trump's probably happy about that. but at the same time, it doesn't help the gop in the midterms because they want to talk about looking forward. i've had several former trump advisers confirm that to me. laura, when donald trump's seizing on facebook suppressing the hunter biden laptop in 2020 after a warning of russian disinformation that turned out to be bogus, you had the former president demanding he should be reinstated or granted a do-over election, most of the conservative media ignored it.

why there's been -- why do you think there's been a shying away from that? >> i think there's been a lack of evidence to report. and i do think also that donald trump -- i'm sorry? howard: i was going to say, lack of evidence. the former president said this. ordinarily, that would be big news. >> well, the former president says a lot of things that turn out to be false, and so i think coverage of all of them might be pretty hard. but i do think what's of note here, again, is this demonization of institution, the idea that everything is inherently political even in the sake of facts. donald trump and his allies in the media that supports him, you will see that, in fact, they are not just saying that donald trump is under attack, they're saying that if you're a donald trump supporter, you're under attack. and i think that's what's truly dangerous because that can weaponize a number of people to really take down institutions. and and that is what is problematic about this media coverage, because you are, in

fact, fomenting a group of people by saying that they are being victimized because of allegations against donald trump. howard: do you want to briefly respond to that? >> yes. howard: there has been a rise in threats to the fbi. >> yes. you see the same thing happening with president biden talking about maga are republicans and trying to draw can this distinction -- howard: as we'll discuss next segment. >> yes, exactly. if our institutions behaved better, then you wouldn't have anybody demonizing institutions. the institutions are providing all of the fodder for this criticism. if -- so the institutions are the ones that are entirely, a lot of this criticism is entirely reasonable. >> without facts. howard: a lot -- sorry, laura. a lot of media coverage also, this happened the night after our show. lindsey graham saying this and then the next day walking it back slightly. let's take a look. >> if they try to prosecute president trump for mishandling

classified information after hillary clinton set up a server in her basement, they literally will be -- there there literally will be riots mt. street. i reject violence. i'm not calling for violence. violence is not the answer. howard: might have been better, in my view, if he hadn't said the second part, but some in the media took that as a not so veiled threat. fair or unfair in. >> totally unpair. washington post said it people -- seemed more like a threat, but the left and the media is constantly talking about this latent threat of violence that exists on the far right, chest cantic terrorists -- domestic terrorists. so if you believe that, then it is logical that a giant with, unprecedented step against the beloved former president with the base, with his base, could lead -- we saw what happened on january 6th. so i think it's true that he was stating the obvious, and i think the media i uproar was misplaced. howard: well, laura, senator graham had a point in that it

would be unfair, you know, he would argue for doj to charge trump solely for mishandling classified documents given the pact that it didn't happen with prominent democrats. then he said it was just a prediction. but some of the media saw a call to arms like january 6th. your take. >> my take is that, first of all, i just want to rebut one thing. when 70% of republicans say that you have, that they would take the up arms, there's polling that suggests the suggestion of they might need to fight back if, on elections, on other things, that polling data is there, and that is a sleeping giant. when you have people like tucker carlson that say and describe the fbi as the largest and most heavily armed law enforcement arm in the country, that is setting up this polarization. that is setting up this dynamic where you have to fight back. so, you know, when you heard lindsey graham say what he said, it is expressing what is reflected in the polling, what we see, and that sleeping giant is something that needs to be tamed by republicans and is incredibly important to the

preservation of our small d democracy. howard: so is it sounds like you have no problem with what lindsey graham said. you're saying he's reflecting realitiesome. >> i think -- no, i have a huge problem with it because what he's doing is directing people by describing -- >> but he didn't. he didn't ask anybody -- [inaudible conversations] or suggest anybody to do that. >> i think we're smart enough to recognize subtleties. it doesn't have to be explicit. you can do this by saying -- >> he's condemned january 6th. he's always condemned violence and january 6th. there's literally no indication from lindsey graham that he thinks any -- >> so why did he say that? >> because it's a description of the fact that you yourself said a sleeping giant and a latent threat of violence in this country which i actually think is true -- [inaudible conversations] >> perhaps. there's always both sides, right? but i think that the problem -- >> indeed. howard: guy, i want to get one more question in, and our time is short. when donald trump called into a very conservative pittsburgh

raid radio show and said if he gets another term, he is considering pull pardons for for in of those charged in the -- for those charged in the riots. is that a big story in. >> lindsey graham actually said in response to the criticism, he said you should lock up every person who defiled the capitol. send them to actually. i think -- jail. i think that is absolutely the appropriate course. do the i think there are some cases that the doj is not treating appropriately, there are cases, but to speak in those broad terms, yeah, it's problematic because every person who defiled the capitol, it was horrific. howard: all right. when we come back, president biden denouncing maga republicans and then talks about the danger to democracy. are the media holding him to a far lower standard? ♪ ♪

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howard: a deep media divide over a pair of pennsylvania speeches by president biden who had called maga republicans semi-fascists and now had this to say about that part of the gop. >> don't tell me you support law enforcement if you won't condemn what happened on the 6th. for god's sake, whose side are you on? >> is this what joe biden means when he talks about the battle for the soul of the nation, calling half the nation fascistses, letting the far-left lunatics in his party set the agenda. howard: and in an official prime time address that the white house claimed was not political, biden drew media praise and condemnation. >> donald trump and the maga republicans represent an extremism that threats the very foundations of our republic. >> it's called politics. of course he's going to use everything in his arsenal to to give a speech to try to do what? he says it's battle for the soul

of democracy. >> one of the most divisive and disgusting speeches ever delivered by a sitting president. joe biden angrily suggested that 74 million americans are enemies of the state. >> as president biden laid out tonight, the ongoing with threat to democracy is still one of fundamental challenges of our time. >> joe biden really has crossed over into a very dangerous, very dangerous place. tonight he declared in his speech in philadelphia that anyone who disagreed with him is a threat to the country. howard: emily jashinsky, what do you make of the generally positive coverage of joe biden's supposely not political philadelphia prime time speech? that the broadcast networks refused to carry? >> yeah, i think it's interesting because we had very little coverage of his, obviously, extra-constitutional student loan forgiveness. even nancy pelosi said as much as a year ago that that was not something president had the power to do, and now when he turns around and calls republicans semi-fascist and doesn't make very clear

distinctions -- i think that's one of the biggest problems. you need to be able to make distinctions very clearly, but he struggled with his speech, he struggled all week with. and if you can't do that to turn and let that semi-fascist record, as john harwood said on cnn, say that that's important and journalists should be able to say that's the right thing, that's ridiculous to me. howard: laura fink p i'm guessing you liked the speech, but what about media conservatives who say he's abandoning his campaign theme and presidential theme of unifying the country? >> i think that's a great question, howie, and i'll tell you this: we're not talking about half the country as hannity suggested. when you do the numbers and the math on the polling, talking about people that rejected the legitimacy of the 2020 election. while that is a significant number of republicans, it's about a 15% of the country. so if you want to talk about unity, biden is trying to unify the 85% of country that want to believe in small d democracy, in the legitimacy of our elections system, and that includes some

of the republicans that stood up against those that would want to overturn it. so i think you're seeing a unity speech here that is being mischaracterized because the focus is on this idea of mag baa republicans. the fact is, donald trump does have dominance over the republican party, and his primary platform is that the election was illegitimate. you have to confront that, and that's what joe biden did. howard: well, in his rally last might donald trump called joe biden an enemy of the state. so you've got each side accusing the other. i didn't see people in the mainstream media question the political nature of that speech or say has joe biden gone too far in calling maga republicans -- which is the dominant strain right now in the republican party -- semi-fascists. what do you make of that? >> yeah, i actually think it's the fault of the biden administration. they have not been clear enough as to whether they're actually talking about a fringe. there's a lot of support for

donald trump in country and in the republican party. when you are not being clear about who you're talking about -- howard: what about journalists who are not, who kind of well kohled -- welcomed this because they agree with it? >> there was this exchange between jeremy diamond and karine jean-pierre this week, if this is such a threat, what con secret steps -- concrete steps are go you going to do it? are they going far enough? howard: someone dug up a clip of president trump saying of the democrats they are fascists. we got the charges flying back and forth. laura, if we're going to talk about joe biden's hard, rhetori, trump responded by saying biden must be insane and further questioning his mental health. but since the press spent years slam aring trump for calling his calculatics losers and fools do -- critics losers and fools and enemies of the people in the

case of the media, isn't this a lower bar for joe biden? >> i think he also called him satan. is there a lower bar for joe biden in calling people names? i think when you're talking about the real issue of our democracy and the real situation that we had on january 6th and on the same day that biden gives the speech, trump is saying to a right-wing radio host that he's going to give pardons to all of the insurrectionists, i think that this isn't a both sides issue, this is a one side issue. and i think that was the point of the speech, that he wants to unite americans even hoe they disagree on other issues that we need democracy over extremism and that we have to agree on the keg integrity of our elections systems, and you can't just say, hey, i didn't win, must be corrupt. howard: yeah. the media's responsibility is to be fair to both sides and regardless, obviously, we have to cover that as well. let's put up a picture, emily. cnn got pushback from the white

house. as we see here, the two marines stationed behind this official speech saying they shouldn't have been the there because it politicizes the military, and the white house spokesman came back on twitter and saying, except it's not critical. what do you think of this? >> it was really interesting because even the broadcast networks that i think have generally been favorable to joe biden didn't cover the speech because they thought it was too political. and you had media figures saying this sounded like a convention speech. when you have a lot of consensus on that point, then the marines -- there is a point. and other media figures pushed back. it wasn't just the white house. she got criticism for making, i think, a pretty legitimate point for other people -- from other people in the media. howard: right. we can debate her point, but it certainly is a fair observation. it's become very controversial. good discussion. thank you so much, laura fink, emily jashinsky. ahead, shannon bream on her new sunday job.

but up next, are republicans worried about the tsunami of trump coverage, that it could swamp their midterm campaigns. ♪ ♪

howard: how is all the trump coverage and the media's insistence on a democratic surge affecting the midterms? joining us now, mike emmanuel. mike, several media reports say republicans don't want the midterms to be about trump in 2020 as opposed to can't issues, and -- current issues. we have him being accused of probably hiding classified documents. are the stories about republican unease on target? >> absolutely. a lot of republicans say if they're talking about former president trump and/or classified documents, that they're being taken off message. they want to talk about what they would do if they get the majorities back in the house and senate. they want to pound inflation, gasoline prices which have come down but are still higher than

when joe biden took office, they want to talk about the crime crisis in many american cities, they want to talk about the immigration issue, and they want to talk about education. they want to make it a referendum the on president biden. democrats want to make it a referendum on former president trump. howard: sounds like a familiar campaign clash. there was this stampede of pundits saying that the democrats have momentum after a candidate who played up abortion rights won a special election in new york's hudson valley. and then that kind of hardened into fact, and then service, like, no redaway. then it was, well, some way the democrats may hold the house. is that a bit overblown? >> as journalists, we are trained to have a healthy sense of skepticism, so i think perhaps months ago when they were talking about a big red wave, it was healthy to be skeptical, now i don't know that it's doomsday for republicans and/or paradise for democrats. but to be fair, democrats have put some points on the board. they passed this inflation reduction act, a slimmed-down version of build back better,

and so they've been able to go home and say we can deliver some things for you to our con sitwents. but they're also not inviting president biden to their districts to do a whole bunch o- howard: they're not, yeah. >> -- to sell this percentage. so question is, you know, exactly how it plays out. look, all these districts are individual races. they are binary choices whether you pick the republican or the democrat, and then it's up to, you know, the issues and the voters in those districts. howard: but, you know, both parties are telling journalists, at least privately, that the republicans will probably win fewer seats in taking over house because of abortion rights energizing democratic voters, especially women. but what could happen in two months? >> absolutely. i also would caution to say this is labor day weekend. howard: yeah. >> the pool's closing, people are coming off vacation, kids are going back to cool -- school, and i think a lot of voters are going to start to engage over the coming weeks, to

look at their pocketbook issues, how is their family doing, how that impacts them. and so i think a lot of the news cycles flip like. howard: right. >> i think there's still plenty of time for things to to swing one way, the other and perhaps back. howard: i agree with you. mike emmanuel, great to see you. next on "mediabuzz," is cable news spending too much time on trump while all but ignoring the process of governing? that's what the white house says. stay with us. ♪ ♪ ech:auto glass damage, let safelite come to you. ♪ pop rock music ♪ >> tech: my customer enjoys time with her family. so when her windshield got a crack... she scheduled with safelite in just a few clicks. we came to her house... ...replaced the windshield... and installed new wipers. that's service on her time. >> grandkid: here you go! >> tech: wow, thank you! >> customer and grandkids: bye! >> tech: bye! don't wait, schedule now.

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bill, even the hugely controversial decision to forgive hundreds of billions in college debt has been greatly overshadowed. white house chief of staff ron klain was asked about the relentless trump coverage by alex wagner. >> well, look, i think that it's understandable people have an interest in these things, but i also think that, you know, how much coverage it gets is a choice that cable executives make, not us here at the white house. i actually think fewer talking head panels about mar-a-lago and and more explaining to people about how they can get the tax benefits in the inflation reduction act. howard: joining us now, robby soave and gillian turner, fox news anchor and correspondent. obviously, president biden's chief of staff wants more coverage of biden's accomplishments, but what about his point there should be fewer and less talking head panels about mar-a-lago? >> he says he wants more coverage of president biden's accomplishments. no, i think they probably want a lot of coverage of what trump is

up to. they want to to keep trump front and center because they know while he's still popular with a session segment of republican voters, the kinds of people need to win over, independents, democrats who are dissatisfied with covid policies, school policies, they are turned off, frankly, by donald trump's aptics. no, i think ron klain wants people talking about trump all the tile. -- time. howard: well, that's the opposite of what he said. pundits go on and on and on about trump and the doj and the affidavit's coming and, wow, it's really redacted. i get it's a great detective story, but even when nothing has happened for days, that seems to be the default programming. >> with the story so far, it is developing in little, incremental bits. somebody file, and then there's a deadline for the counterfiling, we're not sure when it's going to come -- howard: any minute. any minute. >> this whole investigation is truly made for television

coverage in that sense. we are guided by daily deadlines that they are up against that we then are have to cover. howard: debate has been going on since about 2015, robbie, when cnn and fox covered the trump rallies and the president -- as president he was always punching and counterpunching, going, you know, calling people names and that sort of thing. it's drawn endless coverage, usually negative coverage from the media. but i think it crowded out everybody else. that was true when he was president and right now seem to be true as well. >> no, it's absolutely true. when trump seeks the potlight, he gets it -- spotlight. sometimes when he doesn't necessarily seek the support spotlight, he gets it. obviously, look, you can't beat up on what pundits o i guess, people like us sitting around a table discussing it. it's important, it's news. it's a major and unprecedented action even if you think it's meritedded, even if you think there's something to the investigation which he has

allegedly classified documents, it has to be covered. so if they really mean that, it's a little rich of the white house to say, oh, why are they talking about that so much? it's important. it's news. howard: well, gillian, the coverage has been on steroids of january 6th hearings and the doj probe of trump. but the not so secret reason, and part of this is that the slog of government, you know, negotiations, what's in the bill, who's going to compromise is not very sex by i -- sexy by tv standards. and i think that's good for ratings. >> trump has always and probably always will be good for ratings, and it actually doesn't matter what side of the aisle you're on, he is good for ratings. i want to push back a little bit on the premise of what ron klain said a moment ago to just point out, and i can't speak for other networks, but i've spent today cannens of hours over the last six weeks -- dozens of hours covering the ira, the inflation reduction act, what is in it, what is not, the last minute,

midnight hour negotiations going on at capitol hill. i got sick of that, to be honest. i mean, that never ended too. we covered that extraordinarily tirelessly here. howard: but at least you covered it because there was still some drama about how it was going to turn out. as soon as it was passed and signed, i barely saw it on cable news. but let me move on, you can come back at me if you want. when we cover the justice department saying donald trump had classified documents or him demanding to be reinstated as president, i think his strongest supporters see media bias in all of that. what the former president calls fake news. this many both these cases -- in both these cases, despite pundit spin, aren't we trying in our business, as flawed as we are, to cover the facts, for example, of the investigation in. >> yeah, of course. and i think that goes for reporters and channels who have viewers and their own views hard broadly more sympathetic to what trump represents, and it's true of the oppositional to trump

media. i think probably the oppositional media needs trump from a business standpoint more because they primed their viewers to expect that there was going to be some kind of outcome from from mueller or january 6th. you can go down the line -- howard: you're saying it's a love-hate relationship. >> it's a joker, batman relationship -- [laughter] >> nothing rates better than love-hate. at least in cable. howard: because you appeal to both sides. it's similar by yacht withic relationship, obviously. i think the media lost so much credibility over the years. he changed hurricane map, he cheats at golf -- >> i forgot about that story entirely. >> the fish -- [inaudible conversations] howard: he put -- >> that seems like a couple of years ago. howard: everything went to 11. these days a majority of republicans still believe trump's unproven charges of the stolen election, and they don't believe what people in our profession say, and isn't that a real problem for people trying to be journalists?

>> well, it's a real problem, and it's why people are covering this d work j investigation to -- doj investigation so heavily. it's because of the 70, what is it, 74 million people who voted for the former president in 2020 the are seeking, to some degree, are seeking retribution or seeking justice, whatever you want to call it through the goingings on and the machinations of the same old storyline which is the fbi, the intelligence community, the doj versus trump the. howard: it's clearly news. it's just that it's on all the time even when manager is not exactly happening, we just rehash it. great to have you on the set here. after the break, shannon bream, the new host of "fox news sunday," says her career wasn't exactly one of unbroken success. a candid interview in a moment. ♪ ♪ my brain. so i choose neuriva plus. unlike some others, neuriva plus is a multitasker supporting 6 key indicators

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howard: shannon bream, you all know her, takes over "fox news sunday" next week. to get a fuller picture of what she's like, i sat down with her here in studio two. shannon bream, welcome. >> thank you so much. great to be with you, howie. howard: great to have you here. you really hit up twitter after you were named the host of "fox news sunday" by talking about what happened at your first job. explain what happened. >> i was a lawyer, got over into television and found a station that was willing to take a chance on me. i would go with any if producer-reporter who would let me go and shadow them. they were so kind to do that --

howard: and then? >> and not long after i got on the air, they cleaned out management, a new team, and he called me in two weeks into it with the head of hr sitting there, and i thought, i'm getting a promotion. [laughter] i was terrible. he said you're worst person i've ever seen on tv, and you're not going to make it in this business. howard: and you were fired. >> oh, yeah. howard: and what did you take from that? obviously, it was a humiliating experience. >> it was. i do think humility is a good thing to take from it to realize there's always work with to do. i have to get real with myself. you've bot to put in the work, admit to yourself when you're not getting it right and where you can improve. i have no ill will to that man, i feel like he did me a favor, and i had to decide how serious am i going to be about getting better on job. howard: and you talked about relying on your faith during that period. >> yeah, and i laughed. i remember praying, god, i know there's a lesson in everything

you walk us through, so if you could just drop it on me. that's not how he works. depending on my family and friends and really trying to be patient. howard: i think it really touchedded a nerve because a lot of people have had first or second jobs, they go on to be successful, and people think they got there in a rough way. you're going to have lots of people that are going to try to stick to talking points. how do you tackle that? >> that's the trick, i think, in washington. i love getting personal time with people to talk to them about their family or interests, and you kind of disarm them a little bit in finding out what really motivates them. and i think when you can tap into that and relate to them person to person, you can get them off some of those talking points. they're very disciplined here in washington about sticking to them, but i love research, and there's such a depth of research to do on every person, every topic that comes on to our show. back in 1987 you voted x, i

think having all of your homework done is very important. howard: yes. preparation is absolute key. you are the successor to chris wallace, you're the first female host of "fox news sunday." chris one of the fiercest interviews in the world. everyone has their own style. >> i think we're used to to right now hearing the loud arest voices on the extremes, and that gets headlines and a lot of clickings x. i think there's a place for that. but i think where you can have a deeper, longer-form conversation to say, listen, when i talk to people i meet out in the airports, they say actually, you know what? my neighbor and i don't agree on anything politically, but i would show up for them. they showed up for me when a tree fell on my house. we have more in common than we don't, i think that sense is there. so i think trying to find those places where we can degree -- agree, and if somebody is dead set on a policy, we need to know why. the more we can understand, respect the other side and say

where we have common ground, great, and where we don't, we're going to have to go our separate ways. howard: and i think you're giving people an opportunity to explain things that are going to be thrown at them on the -- along the way. uni. ed a late night news show, how did you evolve during these different roles in you've got to be friendlier in the morning -- >> oh, my goodness, and i don't do caffeine. having bill hemmer as a cohost, i would say, is any secret to success. he is really at the top of his game, he pushes you to be at the top of his game, and he's a great partner. i learned so much from him. i think every job you may be scared at that next step is, but that's a good thing. you should have some nerves and be thinking about the enormous task that you're taking on. i think that's a good thing. but i am a lifelong learner. this i think there's always room to get better, so each of those jobs stretched me in a different way. i love covering the court -- the. howard: oh, by the way, so

you're taking over this big, prestigious new show, you're going to continue to cover the supreme court in your pair time. >> yes, exactly. i love the supreme court. it helps when there are leaks and investigations to be able to have connections on the inside and to say, all right, we built this for 15 years, let's use it. i'm excited to do both. howard: also important on a show like "fox news sunday" and i know hosts get involved in the booking to try to have a surgeon balance between democratic -- certain balance between democratic and republican guests? is that something you'll be conscious of? >> absolutely. i've spent a lot of time on the hill in my years here in washington, and the democrats i have had on shows, i think they know that i'm fair. and i think the republicans who come on as well know it is going to be a probing conversation for them, especially those, as you mentioned, who are looking to higher office. that's part of the -- running the gauntless, being able to defend your positions.

i think people who have had experience coming on a show with me know that i'm fair, and i think every one of them has agreed to come back at some point. howard: oh. you have that in writing? >> i should, especially as a lawyer. [laughter] i think when they get to know you as a human being and not just an employee of fox, i think they think it's a fair give and take when they've given us a chance. howard: good luck. i'll be seeing you every sunday morning. >> we'll be together. howard: shannon bream, thanks very much. still to come, gayle king's love fest with serena williams, "the new york times" hiring freelancer, and how dangerous is ben shapiro anyway? the buzzmeter is back. ♪s bu ♪ [ tires squeal, crash ] when owning a small business gets real, progressive gets you right back to living the dream. now, where were we? [ cheering ] "peace of mind." such a big, beautiful idea.

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go. after serena williams won a stirring victory in the first round of her final tournament at the u.s. open, tennis paid tribute to this amazing athlete including gayle king who said: and then i woke up this morning and went back to the no, no, no, i'm not ready for serena to retire. you start thinking about the english -- accomplishments, she changed the hue of the game, complexion of the game, and it just made me so, so proud. that's fine. but she was one who conducted the postgame interview with serena. this was a double fought. -- fault. you can't come out and sing the woman's praises and also question her on espn. conservative podcaster ben shapiro of the daily wire did a brief drop-i by at the dallas trade show podcast movement where his company had paid for a booth. [inaudible conversations] ♪ >> god bless you. enter good to meet you, i love

what you stand for. howard: podcast nation then apologized to its members, though he was not registered or expected, we take full responsibility for the harm done by his presence. those of you who called this unacceptable are right. finish. >> according to the left, i'm one of the most intimidating people on planet earth. i'm absolutely terrifying, i am scary, i am threatening. i'm darth vadar. if i walk into a room, you don't know if i'm going to force choke you -- howard: what kind of sad i cowardice is this? if i guess he's guilty of being a conservative. new york times has hired freelancers in the middle east who praised adolf hitler and hamas as discovered by honest reporting, a watchdog group, a videographer posted on facebook how great you are, hitler, and cheered hamas firing rockets in israel. lauded on facebook a bus bombing in jerusalem, praised a hamas for killing an israeli soldier and for an attack in which an

american teenager was killed. i hope they're dropping these freelancers. cnn white house correspondent john harwood, who's been blatantly anti-trump, is thest to be pushed out by new cnn boss as he seeks more balance, and harwood took a parting shot. >> these are not honest disagreements. the republican party right now is led by a dishonest demagogue. howard: which helps explain why fried was his last -- friday was his last day. "the washington post" is on track to lose money this year according to interviews and financial documents obtained by "the new york times" which is that digital subscriptions have dropped since donald trump left office a, digital ad revenue down 15%. trump always said media ratings would plummet once he was gone, and it's not just true for tv. made it.

and that's it for this edition of "mediabuzz." i'm howard kurtz. i was sad to see serena lose in the third game of the tournament at the open. hope you're enjoying this labor day weekend. you can subscribe to my podcast, "mediabuzz" meter. apple itunes is a good place to do it. we're back here next sunday with e only media analysis show national thefr television. hello, kevin hart! earn big time with chase freedom unlimited with no annual fee. how do you cashback? chase. make more of what's yours.

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to help keep me sharp. neuriva: think bigger. kennedy: fox news alert on the break evan to kidnap tennessee teacher and her heiress. she has not been thousand police have arrested a suspect is charged with kidnapping more than 20 years ago. hello everyone welcome to "fox news live" i am rich edson in for eric shawn. molly: and i am a molly line in arthel neville. there's been no sign of eliza fletcher since she was shoved into an suv while jogging in memphis friday morning. but a 38-year-old man has been charged in her abduction. it is not his first run in wit